Going self-hosted | My experience

It has been around 3 months since I have gone self-hosted (wow, how time flies!) and I thought it was time to share my experience with you all and why I wanted to go self-hosted in the first place.

There were a lot of questions asked when I went self-hosted and I answer them all at the end of this post. Also, I’ll link a few a few bloggers posts on their experience going self-hosted too as it may be different.

Why I have gone Self-Hosted

I wanted to go self-hosted because of the freedom of designing and maintaining my blog. Also, I wanted to officially own it and have my own domain and get rid of wordpress.com that was attached to it.

Due to connecting my blog to wordpress.com, I still use their dashboard because I’m so used to it. When it comes to admin work, I use the wordpress.org dashboard. I’m just letting you know because you still have the option to use wordpress.com alongside wordpress.org.

Host

I’ve decided to choose One.com because the migration isn’t done for you and I really wanted to experience it by doing it myself. Let’s just say that I was successful but I messed up with a bit but it hasn’t made too much damage. I’m not going to lie but, it was quite stressful, haha because I was struggling to migrate for a certain time period and it wasn’t working but I’ve managed it now. Also, thinking about it now, it was all worth it because I was learning something new and if I ever want to migrate my blog again, I will do it in segments and not the whole thing (that is what caused me grief, haha).

Theme

A lot of bloggers choose the Pipdig route when choosing a theme but I wanted to try something different. It took a while but, I went on Etsy and there was such a variety of themes. I didn’t worry about the price because the host is a very good price. I’ve finally found the perfect theme which was Caroline from City House Design and I’m in love! I got the link for the theme pretty instantly and it was so easy to install. When I needed help, the response was very quick too and I got help without any extra fee which was so nice of them. I really recommend them! If you ever want a theme, definitely check out Etsy.

I had so much fun designing my blog and choosing the right pictures and what not. It definitely gave me a boost of motivation to blog more.

Price and Plan

A lot of my blogging friends also went self-hosted last year and I was super happy for them and I think I got the fever of wanting to go self-hosted even more. I knew for a very long time that I wanted to but that definitely gave me the courage to take the plunge. For those wondering, I spent a total of £36.90 which I think isn’t too bad. I got the starter plan which includes a free domain, 25GB storage and 512MB of RAM, so it was very affordable but a month ago, one.com gave a free upgrade so I’ve got 200GB of storage, free domain and 2GB of RAM for the rest of the year!

Plugins

Before my package was updated, I had to hunt for a few plugins that will back my blog up (which isn’t needed anymore due to an upgrade but I still use it as an extra backup) or other plugins like Jetpack that would connect my self-hosted blog to wordpress.com. I had no clue what it was but I would always see it on wordpress.com so now I have the freedom of customising my blog even more! My theme also came with plugins too. If you guys would like to know my top 10 plugins, comment below or dm me!

Common Questions

What is the difference between wordpress.org and wordpress.com

WordPress.com lets you create a blog for free but your domain will have wordpress.com attached to the end of your blog’s name. Also, you don’t officially own your blog so if they wanted to close it down they would and you have no way of getting it back (but this is unlikely). They give you 3GB of storage and they take care of all the plugins and speed of your website etc.

Whereas wordpress.org is pretty much the opposite. It is free but you need to connect it to a host (which comes with a cost) in order to use their free plugins and themes. Everything else depends on the host you choose and you are given a lot of freedom and responsibility.

Was going self-hosted worth it? Would you recommend?

Definitely! I love the flexibility with going self-hosted and I totally recommend!

One.com gives a code to everyone who purchases from them. So if you want £5 off (so for a hosting started, you’d pay less than £6), click here. I just get a few pounds off when I renew my package.

The responsibility of maintaining your blog. You have to check one in a while if the backups are working and if everything is updated. Plugins are not an issue because I put it on auto update.

What happens to your followers and views?

Your followers are migrated just like the content in your blog. However, your views restart because the site address is different. At first, it kind of hit me because I lost 36.7K views all together but now I’m fine with it because it is just a number and my old blog isn’t deleted. You won’t be able to view it because it is private.

UPDATE: CREATE A WORDPRESS FORUM TO RETRIEVE YOUR STATS

How long did it take you to go self-hosted?

In a few hours but they were long and tiring. I’d say 5+ hours because I was doing most of it myself. I downloaded the theme and designed my blog in two days (to get it perfect!).

You may also like

8 Comments

Ahh I remember we both went self hosted around the same time! Thats when we found each others blog!! I loved reading your experience, and I found it so interesting that you went a completely different route!! I wish I had known about etsy themes sooner!! They sound absolutely amazing, not that I dont LOVE my pipdig theme!! Your blog is so beautiful!! xx

lifeasnajida

Loved this post Najida! You managed to go self hosted for a much cheaper price than I did, however I know for a fact i would never have been able to do it myself😂! I’ve just gone self hosted and I’m really loving it💗

Recent Posts

Cookie Policy

Life As Najida uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to use this blog, you agree to the use of cookies. Click read more for more information on how cookies are used on this site. AcceptRead More